pacman::p_load(sf, terra, spatstat, tmap, rvest, tidyverse)Hands-on_Ex02a
Overview
Spatial Point Pattern Analysis (SPPA) is the evaluation of the pattern or distribution of a set of points on a surface. The points may represent:
Events such as crimes, traffic accidents, or disease onsets, or
Business services (e.g., coffee shops and fast-food outlets) or facilities such as childcare centres and eldercare centres.
First-order Spatial Point Pattern Analysis (1st-SPPA) studies how point intensity (density) varies across space. This will help answer questions like:
Are there more points in some areas than others?
Where are the hotspots or clusters?
Datasets
The following datasets will be used:
Child Care Services kml data file (Child Care Services)
Master Plan 2019 Subzone Boundary (No Sea) kml data file (Master plan 2019)
Installing and Loading the R packages
The code chunk below uses p_load() of pacman package to check if the following packages are installed in the computer. If they are, then they will be launched into R.
sf - Provides the core tools for handling spatial data
spatstat - A package used for spatial point pattern analysis
terra - Provides tools for working with vector spatial data
tmap - A package used for producing maps for visualisation
rvest - A web scraping package to download and parse data from websites
Importing and wrangling the data
Use the code chunk below to import Master Plan 2019 Subzone (No Sea) data set into R environment. It imports the masterplan data, removes the Z (elevation) and M (measure) diemension, and transforms into SVY21.
mpsz_sf <- st_read("data/MasterPlan2019SubzoneBoundaryNoSeaKML.kml") %>%
st_zm(drop = TRUE, what = "ZM") %>% st_transform(crs = 3414)Reading layer `URA_MP19_SUBZONE_NO_SEA_PL' from data source
`C:\Users\zongy\OneDrive\Desktop\SMU\ISSS626 - Geospatial Analytics\zongyin-tan\ISSS626-Geospatial-zytan\Hands-on_Ex\Hands-on_Ex02a\data\MasterPlan2019SubzoneBoundaryNoSeaKML.kml'
using driver `KML'
Simple feature collection with 332 features and 2 fields
Geometry type: MULTIPOLYGON
Dimension: XY
Bounding box: xmin: 103.6057 ymin: 1.158699 xmax: 104.0885 ymax: 1.470775
Geodetic CRS: WGS 84
A function called extract_kml_field for extracting REGION_N, PLN_AREA_N, SUBZONE_N, SUBZONE_C from Description field by using the code chunk below
extract_kml_field <- function(html_text, field_name) {
if (is.na(html_text) || html_text == "") return(NA_character_)
page <- read_html(html_text)
rows <- page %>% html_elements("tr")
value <- rows %>%
keep(~ html_text2(html_element(.x, "th")) == field_name) %>%
html_element("td") %>%
html_text2()
if (length(value) == 0) NA_character_ else value
}The code chunk below creates new columns REGION_N, PLN_AREA_N, SUBZONE_N and SUBZONE_C using the function defined above ensuring the fields are in proper structure.
mpsz_sf <- mpsz_sf %>%
mutate(
REGION_N = map_chr(Description, extract_kml_field, "REGION_N"),
PLN_AREA_N = map_chr(Description, extract_kml_field, "PLN_AREA_N"),
SUBZONE_N = map_chr(Description, extract_kml_field, "SUBZONE_N"),
SUBZONE_C = map_chr(Description, extract_kml_field, "SUBZONE_C")
) %>%
select(-Name, -Description) %>%
relocate(geometry, .after = last_col())We then proceed to remove the unwanted zones, SOUTHERN GROUP, WESTERN ISLANDS and NORTH-EASTERN ISLANDS, leaving us with the main Singapore subzones using the following code chunk.
mpsz_cl <- mpsz_sf %>%
filter(SUBZONE_N != "SOUTHERN GROUP",
PLN_AREA_N != "WESTERN ISLANDS",
PLN_AREA_N != "NORTH-EASTERN ISLANDS")Finally, writing the cleaned data into an rds file.
write_rds(mpsz_cl,
"data/mpsz_cl.rds")The code chunk below will be used to import the Childcare Service data downloaded from data.gov.sg into R environment as sf data frame called chilcare_sf.
childcare_sf <- st_read("data/ChildCareServices.kml") %>%
st_zm(drop = TRUE, what = "ZM") %>%
st_transform(crs = 3414)Reading layer `CHILDCARE' from data source
`C:\Users\zongy\OneDrive\Desktop\SMU\ISSS626 - Geospatial Analytics\zongyin-tan\ISSS626-Geospatial-zytan\Hands-on_Ex\Hands-on_Ex02a\data\ChildCareServices.kml'
using driver `KML'
Simple feature collection with 1925 features and 2 fields
Geometry type: POINT
Dimension: XYZ
Bounding box: xmin: 103.6878 ymin: 1.247759 xmax: 103.9897 ymax: 1.462134
z_range: zmin: 0 zmax: 0
Geodetic CRS: WGS 84
Mapping the geospatial data sets
After checking the referencing system of each geospatial data data frame, it is also useful for us to plot a map to show their spatial patterns. We will use the code chunk below to plot the map.
tm_shape(mpsz_cl) +
tm_polygons() +
tm_shape(childcare_sf) +
tm_dots()
To note that the dots are all within the same map. This means the formats are in order which is very important. We may also apply a more interactive version using the following code chunk.
tmap_mode('view')ℹ tmap mode set to "view".
tm_shape(childcare_sf)+
tm_dots()Registered S3 method overwritten by 'jsonify':
method from
print.json jsonlite
To set tmap back to plot.
tmap_mode('plot')ℹ tmap mode set to "plot".
In interactive mode, tmap uses the leaflet for R API. This lets us pan, zoom, and click on points to see details. We can also change the background map, with options like ESRI.WorldGrayCanvas (default), OpenStreetMap, and ESRI.WorldTopoMap.
Geospatial Data wrangling
Converting sf data frames to ppp class
spatstat requires the point event data in ppp object form. The code chunk below uses as.ppp() of spatstat package to convert childcare_sf to ppp format.
childcare_ppp <- as.ppp(childcare_sf)We will use class() to verify the new object childcare_ppp.
class(childcare_ppp)[1] "ppp"
This confirms childcare_ppp is a ppp object class.
We may want to get a summary of the ppp object using the following code chunk
summary(childcare_ppp)Marked planar point pattern: 1925 points
Average intensity 2.417323e-06 points per square unit
Coordinates are given to 11 decimal places
Mark variables: Name, Description
Summary:
Name Description
Length:1925 Length:1925
Class :character Class :character
Mode :character Mode :character
Window: rectangle = [11810.03, 45404.24] x [25596.33, 49300.88] units
(33590 x 23700 units)
Window area = 796335000 square units
Creating owin object
When analysing spatial point patterns, it is a good practice to confine the analysis with a geographical area like Singapore boundary. In spatstat, an object called owin is specially designed to represent this polygonal region.
as.owin() from spatstat wil be used to convert mpsz_cl iinto an owin object using the following code chunk.
sg_owin <- as.owin(mpsz_cl)We can verify the object class again.
class(sg_owin)[1] "owin"
After confirming the class, we may now use it for plotting.
plot(sg_owin)
Combining point events object and owin object
In this last step of geospatial data wrangling, we will extract childcare events that are located within Singapore by using the code chunk below.
childcareSG_ppp = childcare_ppp[sg_owin]childcare_ppp is the dataset containing the childcare points whereas sg_owin contains the boundaries of Singapore as shown above. using [ ] we subset the points all within the Singapore boundary. childcareSG_ppp will be the new object containing the combination of both as shown below.
childcareSG_pppMarked planar point pattern: 1925 points
Mark variables: Name, Description
window: polygonal boundary
enclosing rectangle: [2667.54, 55941.94] x [21448.47, 50256.33] units
Clark-Evan Test for Nearest Neighbour Analysis
Nearest Neighbor Analysis (NNA) is a spatial statistics method that calculates the average distance between each point and its closest neighbor to determine if a pattern of points is clustered, dispersed, or randomly distributed.
Clark-Evans test is a specific statistical method used within NNA to quantify whether a point pattern is clustered, random, or uniformly spaced, using the Clark-Evans aggregation index (R) to describe this pattern. NNA provides a numerical value that describes the degree of clustering or regularity, and the Clark-Evans test calculates a specific index (R) for this purpose.
We will perform Clark-Evans test of aggregation for a spatial point pattern by using clarkevans.test() of spatstat.explore package.
The test hypotheses are:
Ho = The distribution of childcare services are randomly distributed.
H1= The distribution of childcare services are not randomly distributed.
The 95% confident interval will be used.
clarkevans.test() of spatstat.explore package supports both with CSR and without CSR types of Clark-Evans test.
CSR stands for Complete Spatial Randomness. It describes a distribution of points that is purely random without any points affecting the location of other points.
Perform the Clark-Evans test without CSR
Without CSR compares the observed distribution of points to what would be expected under random placement, without adjusting for edge effects.
The code chunk below is the test without CSR.
clarkevans.test(childcareSG_ppp,
correction="none",
clipregion="sg_owin",
alternative=c("clustered"))
Clark-Evans test
No edge correction
Z-test
data: childcareSG_ppp
R = 0.53532, p-value < 2.2e-16
alternative hypothesis: clustered (R < 1)
R = 0.53532, which is less than 1. This says that points are closer together which means there is clustering.
For Reference
R = 1 -> Pattern is consistent with CSR and is random
R < 1 -> Points are close together meaning there is clustering
R > 1 -> Points are further apart than random, potential regular spacing or dispersion
P-value < 2.2e-16 which is less than 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis of CSR. This shows that the clustering is statistically significant and unlikely due to chance/random.
With these results, it shows that childcare centres are not randomly distributed. In Singapore context, childcare centres tend to be clustered when regions have a higher population density.
Perform the Clark-Evans test with CSR
With CSR adjusts for boundary effects. It applies edge corrections so that points near the boundary aren’t unfairly treated as having fewer neighbours. It is generally more accurate and recommended for real world spatial data with irregular shapes like Singapore.
In the code chunk below, the argument method = “MonteCarlo” is used. In this case, the p-value for the test is computed by comparing the observed value of R to the results obtained from nsim (i.e. 39, 99, 999) simulated realisations of Complete Spatial Randomness conditional on the observed number of points.
clarkevans.test(childcareSG_ppp,
correction="none",
clipregion="sg_owin",
alternative=c("clustered"),
method="MonteCarlo",
nsim=99)
Clark-Evans test
No edge correction
Monte Carlo test based on 99 simulations of CSR with fixed n
data: childcareSG_ppp
R = 0.53532, p-value = 0.01
alternative hypothesis: clustered (R < 1)
R = 0.53532, same as above, this says that points are closer together which means there is clustering.
P-value = 0.01, although higher than the previous result, still less than 0.05. We reject the CSR and conclude that the childcare centres are statistically clustered.
Since we used a Monte Carlo test, we can assume the p-value is more realistic since its based on random simulations.
Kernel Density Estimation Method
Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) is a valuable tool for visualising and analyzing first-order spatial point patterns. It is widely considered a method within Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) because it’s used to visualize and understand spatial data patterns by transforms discrete point data (like locations of childcare service, crime incidents or disease cases) into continuous density surfaces that reveal clusters and variations in event occurrences, without making prior assumptions about data distribution. It helps to begin understanding data distribution, identify hotspots, and explore relationships between spatial variables before performing more rigorous analysis.
Working with automatic bandwidth selection method
The code chunk below computes a kernel density by using the following configurations of density() of spatstat:
bw.diggle() automatic bandwidth selection method. Other recommended methods are bw.CvL(), bw.scott() or bw.ppl().
The smoothing kernel used is gaussian, which is the default. Other smoothing methods are: “epanechnikov”, “quartic” or “disc”.
The intensity estimate is corrected for edge effect bias by using method described by Jones (1993) and Diggle (2010, equation 18.9). The default is FALSE.
kde_SG_diggle <- density(
childcareSG_ppp,
sigma=bw.diggle,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian") We will use plot() to display the kernal density derived.
plot(kde_SG_diggle)
We will use summary() to view the summary report.
summary(kde_SG_diggle)real-valued pixel image
128 x 128 pixel array (ny, nx)
enclosing rectangle: [2667.538, 55941.94] x [21448.47, 50256.33] units
dimensions of each pixel: 416 x 225.0614 units
Image is defined on a subset of the rectangular grid
Subset area = 669941961.12249 square units
Subset area fraction = 0.437
Pixel values (inside window):
range = [-6.584123e-21, 3.063698e-05]
integral = 1927.788
mean = 2.877545e-06
We can also retrieve the bandwidth used to compute the kde layer by using the code chunk below.
bw <- bw.diggle(childcareSG_ppp)
bw sigma
295.9712
Rescalling KDE values
In the previous results, we had an output range as shown.
range = [-6.584123e-21, 3.063698e-05]
The default unit of measurement of SVY21 is in meters and as a result, the density values computed is in number of points per square meter. Hence, in the code chunk below, rescale.ppp() is used to covert the unit of measurement from meter to kilometer.
childcareSG_ppp_km <- rescale.ppp(
childcareSG_ppp, 1000, "km")Now, we can re-run density() using the resale data set and plot the output kde map.
kde_childcareSG_km <- density(childcareSG_ppp_km,
sigma=bw.diggle,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian")Finally, we can plot the kde object.
plot(kde_childcareSG_km)
Working with different automatic bandwidth methods
Beside bw.diggle(), there are three other spatstat functions can be used to determine the bandwidth, they are: bw.CvL(), bw.scott(), and bw.ppl().
bw.CvL(childcareSG_ppp_km) sigma
4.357209
bw.scott(childcareSG_ppp_km) sigma.x sigma.y
2.159749 1.396455
bw.ppl(childcareSG_ppp_km) sigma
0.378997
bw.diggle(childcareSG_ppp_km) sigma
0.2959712
Baddeley et. (2016) suggested the use of the bw.ppl() algorithm because past experience shown that it tends to produce the more appropriate values when the pattern consists predominantly of tight clusters. But they also insist that if the purpose of once study is to detect a single tight cluster in the midst of random noise then the bw.diggle() method seems to work best.
The code chunk beow will be used to compare the output of using bw.diggle and bw.ppl methods.
kde_childcareSG.ppl <- density(childcareSG_ppp_km,
sigma=bw.ppl,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian")
par(mfrow=c(1,2))
plot(kde_childcareSG_km, main = "bw.diggle")
plot(kde_childcareSG.ppl, main = "bw.ppl")
Working with different kernel methods
By default, the kernel method used in density.ppp() is gaussian. But there are three other options, namely: Epanechnikov, Quartic and Dics.
The code chunk below will be used to compute three more kernel density estimations by using these three kernel function.
par(mfrow=c(2,2))
plot(density(childcareSG_ppp_km,
sigma=0.2959712,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian"),
main="Gaussian")
plot(density(childcareSG_ppp_km,
sigma=0.2959712,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="epanechnikov"),
main="Epanechnikov")
plot(density(childcareSG_ppp_km,
sigma=0.2959712,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="quartic"),
main="Quartic")
plot(density(childcareSG_ppp_km,
sigma=0.2959712,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="disc"),
main="Disc")
Fixed and Adaptive KDE
Computing KDE by using fixed bandwidth
We will compute a KDE layer by defining a bandwidth of 600 meter. Notice that in the code chunk below, the sigma value used is 0.6. This is because the unit of measurement of childcareSG_ppp_km object is in kilometer, hence the 600m is 0.6km.
kde_childcareSG_fb <- density(childcareSG_ppp_km,
sigma=0.6,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian")
plot(kde_childcareSG_fb)
Computing KDE by using adaptive bandwidth
The fixed bandwidth method can be very sensitive when spatial point patterns are unevenly distributed, such as between urban and rural areas. To address this issue, an adaptive bandwidth approach can be used instead.
We can derive the adaptive kernel density estimation by using density.adaptive() of spatstat.
kde_childcareSG_ab <- adaptive.density(
childcareSG_ppp_km,
method="kernel")
plot(kde_childcareSG_ab)
We can compare the fixed and adaptive kernel density estimation outputs by using the code chunk below.
par(mfrow=c(1,2))
plot(kde_childcareSG_fb, main = "Fixed bandwidth")
plot(kde_childcareSG_ab, main = "Adaptive bandwidth")
Plotting cartographic quality KDE map
we will convert the im kernal density objects into SpatRaster object by using rast() of terra package.
kde_childcareSG_bw_terra <- rast(kde_childcareSG_km)Checking the class to confirm it is terra.
class(kde_childcareSG_bw_terra)[1] "SpatRaster"
attr(,"package")
[1] "terra"
Can take a look at the file.
kde_childcareSG_bw_terraclass : SpatRaster
size : 128, 128, 1 (nrow, ncol, nlyr)
resolution : 0.4162063, 0.2250614 (x, y)
extent : 2.667538, 55.94194, 21.44847, 50.25633 (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)
coord. ref. :
source(s) : memory
name : lyr.1
min value : -5.824417e-15
max value : 3.063698e+01
unit : km
We note that coord. ref aka CRS is empty and will have to assign the CRS.
Assigning projection systems
The code chunk below, crs() of terra is used to assign the CRS information on kde_childcareSG_bw_terra layer.
crs(kde_childcareSG_bw_terra) <- "EPSG:3414"Again to take a look at the object, and we have confirmed that the CRS is now SVY21.
kde_childcareSG_bw_terraclass : SpatRaster
size : 128, 128, 1 (nrow, ncol, nlyr)
resolution : 0.4162063, 0.2250614 (x, y)
extent : 2.667538, 55.94194, 21.44847, 50.25633 (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)
coord. ref. : SVY21 / Singapore TM (EPSG:3414)
source(s) : memory
name : lyr.1
min value : -5.824417e-15
max value : 3.063698e+01
unit : km
Plotting KDE map with tmap
We will display the raster in cartographic quality map using tmap package.
tm_shape(kde_childcareSG_bw_terra) +
tm_raster(col.scale =
tm_scale_continuous(
values = "viridis"),
col.legend = tm_legend(
title = "Density values",
title.size = 0.7,
text.size = 0.7,
bg.color = "white",
bg.alpha = 0.7,
position = tm_pos_in(
"right", "bottom"),
frame = TRUE)) +
tm_graticules(labels.size = 0.7) +
tm_compass() +
tm_layout(scale = 1.0)[plot mode] legend/component: Some components or legends are too "high" and are
therefore rescaled.
ℹ Set the tmap option `component.autoscale = FALSE` to disable rescaling.

First Order SPPA at the Planning Subzone Level
We would like to further our analysis at the planning area level. For simplicity reason, we will focus on Punggol, Tampines Chua Chu Kand and Jurong West planning areas
Geospatial data wrangling
We will use the following code chunk to extract the areas we want.
pg <- mpsz_cl %>%
filter(PLN_AREA_N == "PUNGGOL")
tm <- mpsz_cl %>%
filter(PLN_AREA_N == "TAMPINES")
ck <- mpsz_cl %>%
filter(PLN_AREA_N == "CHOA CHU KANG")
jw <- mpsz_cl %>%
filter(PLN_AREA_N == "JURONG WEST")We will plot the areas extract for review as per good practice.
par(mfrow=c(2,2))
plot(st_geometry(pg), main = "Ponggol")
plot(st_geometry(tm), main = "Tampines")
plot(st_geometry(ck), main = "Choa Chu Kang")
plot(st_geometry(jw), main = "Jurong West")
Creating owin object
We will now convert them to owin objects.
pg_owin = as.owin(pg)
tm_owin = as.owin(tm)
ck_owin = as.owin(ck)
jw_owin = as.owin(jw)Combining point events object and owin object
childcare_pg_ppp = childcare_ppp[pg_owin]
childcare_tm_ppp = childcare_ppp[tm_owin]
childcare_ck_ppp = childcare_ppp[ck_owin]
childcare_jw_ppp = childcare_ppp[jw_owin]rescale.ppp() function is used to trasnform the unit of measurement from metre to kilometre.
childcare_pg_ppp.km = rescale.ppp(childcare_pg_ppp, 1000, "km")
childcare_tm_ppp.km = rescale.ppp(childcare_tm_ppp, 1000, "km")
childcare_ck_ppp.km = rescale.ppp(childcare_ck_ppp, 1000, "km")
childcare_jw_ppp.km = rescale.ppp(childcare_jw_ppp, 1000, "km")The code chunk below is used to plot the locations of the childcare centres into the 4 areas of focus.
par(mfrow=c(2,2))
plot(unmark(childcare_pg_ppp.km),
main="Punggol")
plot(unmark(childcare_tm_ppp.km),
main="Tampines")
plot(unmark(childcare_ck_ppp.km),
main="Choa Chu Kang")
plot(unmark(childcare_jw_ppp.km),
main="Jurong West")
Clark and Evans Test
The code chunks below will be using clarkevans.test() of spatstat is used to performs Clark-Evans test of aggregation for childcare centre in the areas of focus. The tests will be done without CSR.
Choa Chu Kang planning area
clarkevans.test(childcare_ck_ppp,
correction="none",
clipregion=NULL,
alternative=c("two.sided"),
nsim=999)
Clark-Evans test
No edge correction
Z-test
data: childcare_ck_ppp
R = 0.84097, p-value = 0.008866
alternative hypothesis: two-sided
Tampines planning area
clarkevans.test(childcare_tm_ppp,
correction="none",
clipregion=NULL,
alternative=c("two.sided"),
nsim=999)
Clark-Evans test
No edge correction
Z-test
data: childcare_tm_ppp
R = 0.66817, p-value = 6.58e-12
alternative hypothesis: two-sided
Computing KDE surfaces by planning area
The code chunk below will be used to compute the KDE of these four planning area. bw.diggle method is used to derive the bandwidth of each
par(mfrow=c(2,2))
plot(density(childcare_pg_ppp.km,
sigma=bw.diggle,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian"),
main="Punggol")
plot(density(childcare_tm_ppp.km,
sigma=bw.diggle,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian"),
main="Tempines")
plot(density(childcare_ck_ppp.km,
sigma=bw.diggle,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian"),
main="Choa Chu Kang")
plot(density(childcare_jw_ppp.km,
sigma=bw.diggle,
edge=TRUE,
kernel="gaussian"),
main="Jurong West")